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You'd think Chicago would be a little livelier for the only wizard in the phone book, but things were so slow Harry Dresden couldn't afford his next meal. Then a mysterious murder of the magical variety, a mutilated corpse surrounded by paw prints under the light of a full moon, meant Harry was back in business!

Harry's been on the outs with his close friend and most important client, Lt. Karrin Murphy, for months. Now, she's finally brought him back into the fold — to help her solve a series of brutal, bloody murders that appear to have been committed by a werewolf. But even as he begins his investigation, Harry's problems are already piling up: there's no shortage of suspects, and apparently, no shortage of werewolves in Chicago; the Chicago PD still looks at him with suspicion; and the FBI doesn't trust him or Murphy. And his old 'friend', mob boss Gentleman John Marcone, is waiting for the right moment to enter the fray...

Chicago is awash in the blood of a werewolf's rampage — and Harry Dresden is caught right in the middle of it. As he desperately races against the rise of the next full moon, Harry is faced with not one, but two faustian bargains — one of them offering him the tantalizing truth behind his mother's life and death. Before the full moon sets, Harry will have born the loss of one friend through violence, the other through betrayal...

He's made himself the enemy of the Chicago PD, the FBI, and a werewolf biker gang. His closest friend no longer trusts him. His one time student is dead - the latest victim of a spree of werewolf killings. Now, Harry finds himself face to face with the man (or beast) who could be behind it all. And the full moon is about to rise...